Entries in my favorite park slope
(39)

Image vi ParkSlopeStoop.comI have a fondness for the B67 and B69 buses. It’s nice to have a convenient pair of buses that will take me to Barnes and Noble and Rite Aid, or home from buying expensive cheese at Union Market. Yes, these are distances I can and do walk, but in the winter, knowing there is a bus that will pick me up a block from home and drop me off outside my destination is the best. Especially when I make the idiotic decision to buy a gallon of milk when I'm a twenty-minute walk from home.

Let's forget about New Years Eve, when I went to Grand Army Plaza for the fireworks, watched the bus pass by from a block away, and walked a long way home without seeing another bus. And a few days after that, when the same thing happened to me on the way to Rite Aid in desperate need of cold meds and I walked there, sniffling, in the fucking slush.

With the snowy, slushy, mess we have today, the weather outside is officially frightful, especially since, unlike our suburban counterparts, shit just doesn't get shut down in NYC unless you've got two feet of snow. Sure, the snow in the trees on Third Street and near Prospect Park looks pretty for about a minute, but trudging to and fro on a day like today can really bring a girl down.

Thankfully, there's the new Winter Warmers pop-up on Union (where People's Pops resides in warmer months) to cheer you up. While their main draw seems to be the s'mores (haven't tried 'em), I'm all about their hot chocolate, which comes in three varieties: Regular milk chocolate, soy milk chocolate, and spicy dark chocolate. I've tried all three, and love them all. Whipped cream is included, but I always go for one of the homemade marshmallows for $1 extra, and come in a rotating selection of flavors. The other day I had the soy milk chocolate with a peppermint marshmallow and hot damn, it just rocked.

They also have hot apple cider, but seriously, why? I mean, to each his/her own, but the hot chocolate rules.

Hello, 2013. Nice to see you. I got all sorts of resolutions that I’m prepared to flake out on by mid-January, and one of them is getting into shape. However, if I don't end up flaking out, I plan on running, as there is a specific route I love to run in the ‘hood during the winter months.

It’s not a complicated route, nor is it long. But it’s especially beautiful after a snowfall. I begin at 9th Street and Prospect Park West, right by the Lafayette statue. I run north along Prospect Park West all the way to Grand Army Plaza. Then I turn into the park, run along the interior road (which has a name that I’ve never cared enough to learn), all the way down to the circle on the other end of PPW. Then I head out of the park, say “hi” to the Pavilion and trot along PPW back to 9th Street. All in all it’s about two miles. You can lengthen the run by heading west along 9th Street or doing another loop. There are lots of options.

Finding the perfect Park Slope coffee shop to work in is work itself. Upon moving here, I first tried Root Hill, which boasts the best coffee in the Slope (in my haughty opinion). But those cold plastic chairs can really only comfortably sit an elf on the shelf. And so the search continued.

I've since learned that I'd never find everything I was looking for in one coffee shop: bold coffee, yummy food, ample comfy seating, hot baristas, plentiful sockets... but one place comes close: Tea Lounge. When it comes to coffee shops, I'm a bit of a size queen. I crave anonymity in these settings, and find the intimacy of Cafe Grumpy, De Luxe, Postmark... hell, any other coffee shop except Tea Lounge, to be insufferable. I want to blend in witha sea of deadpan stares and bloodshot eyes hovering over glowing apples. I want to sink into some big old honkin' couch that is bad for my back, but I don't give a shit because *damn* I could fall asleep right now. I also want a place where I can nibble on more than some gourmet scone (the grub here is pretty good, especially their salads: mix pix with grilled chicken is the way to go.)

Oh, fall. It's always the season -- which officially starts tomorrow, btw -- where I attempt to reverse the brain damage caused by a summer full of beer and big, dumb movies. This usually involves reading stuff, like books. And my favorite place to do my fall reading in Park Slope is the Barnes & Noble on 7th Ave & 6th Street. It’s like the library, only more comfortable and more likely to have the book I’m looking for. Also, I prefer the smell of new books to old books.

And yes, I know that makes me one of those freeloaders who hogs the comfy chairs. I know I’m the reason that “new” book you bought looks like maybe it was already read once. I had my grubby little fingers all over those page. But that’s just too bad for you. It’s fall, bitches, and I need to get my brain exercising on. You can have your Tea Lounges and newly-renovated Public Libraries, but the basement floor of the Barnes & Noble is all mine after Labor Day.

The irony here is that this paticular Barnes & Noble opened during the start of my 11th grade school year, and I was loved it for its ample supply og Cliffs Notes. These days, come September I park my ass there to actually read books. Welcome, fall. It’s good to have you back.

Where do you like to curl up with a good book once the summer partying is done?